LIVING IN | GLEN OAKS, QUEENS; Long on Trees, Short on Costs

By JAKE MOONEY

Published: May 27, 2012

CORRECTION APPENDED

GLEN OAKS, on the Queens border with Nassau County, is dominated by a series of co-op apartment complexes, both garden and high-rise. But it doesn't take a visitor much time to be able to reimagine this neighborhood of about 15,000 people as it must have been in previous lives -- as farmland, country estate and golf course.

The most notable co-ops are Glen Oaks Village, nearly 3,000 units spread among two sections of two- and three-story brick buildings that went up after World War II, and North Shore Towers, a gated trio of 34-story high-rises dating to the early 1970s. Each sits on more than a hundred acres that once belonged to William K. Vanderbilt, and residents say the gardens and open space -- not to mention the nearby Queens County Farm Museum, a working farm -- give the area a quiet livability that is rare within the city limits.

''I call it New York City's secret community,'' said Bob Friedrich, the president of the village's co-op board, adding that from some parts of the complex, ''you can literally look out your window and see all sorts of farm animals.''

Glen Oaks Village, which was built in 1947 and converted to co-ops in 1981, is focused on keeping its roughly 10,000 residents in their units for the long term, said Mr. Friedrich, in explaining why the rules governing renovations and expansions are so flexible. Owners of second-floor units are permitted to expand upward, turning attic space into a full-scale upper floor, and ground-floor owners are allowed to reclaim basement space for living quarters, he said. The board also encourages owners to build decks, terraces and separate rear entrances, partly as a way to improve property values.

''The apartments are smaller, because they were built a long time ago,'' Mr. Friedrich said, ''so by giving people the opportunity to enlarge their apartments, they stay rather than leave.''

Pets are allowed, he said, and services in the complex include trash pickup six days a week and snow-shoveling in the winter. In warm weather, the board provides $24 vouchers that can be redeemed for flowers at local plant nurseries, including the farm museum.

Christine and Harry Bergen, residents for 32 years, raised their son in the complex, and recently added a terrace off their kitchen. Ms. Bergen, who is on the co-op board and heads its admissions committee, says a younger generation of residents have come to enjoy the development's charms.

Ms. Bergen meets most of them when they arrive, and she added, ''My committee, they always say, 'Oh, what nice people I just had.' ''

The other visually prominent complex, North Shore Towers, includes 1,844 units built starting in 1971 on the highest point in Queens, next to Grand Central Parkway. It is visible for miles.

Originally rentals, the complex converted to co-ops in 1987, though there are still a few sponsor-owned rentals, and subletting is allowed.

A building that connects all three towers, which residents call the ''arcade,'' has food stores, a coffee shop, a bank, a dry cleaner and a movie theater. The stores are open to the public but used mostly by residents, said Annette Kroll, a resident who has been selling apartments in the towers since the co-op conversion. The complex also has five tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, a health club and an 18-hole golf course. Views from high floors, Ms. Kroll said, stretch to the Manhattan skyline and the Atlantic. With all the services, she added, ''it's like going to Canyon Ranch and not spending $500 a day.''

WHAT YOU'LL FIND

Long Island Jewish Medical Center lies at the eastern end of the 1.25-square-mile neighborhood, near the city line, and residents of the local complexes include staff members and patients. Julia Shildkret, a local broker, said North Shore Towers had gained a reputation as an elder community, though Ms. Kroll said younger residents had been arriving in recent years as well.

Brian Lynn, who bought a one-bedroom last year in Parkwood Estates, a 400-unit complex next to the farm museum, said he was ''very comfortable'' in what he described as a ''nice little enclave.'' With apartments making up so much of the housing, it is also relatively inexpensive. Mr. Lynn, who splits his time between Glen Oaks and his partner's place in Manhattan, said he paid $167,000 for his unit, along with $628 a month in maintenance, which covers many utilities and a parking space.

Besides the self-contained developments -- Glen Oaks Village with its red bricks and white trim, Parkwood Estates with similarly scaled buildings in yellow stucco -- there are pockets of one- and two-family detached houses, mostly along Union Turnpike. With this mix, the area provides starter homes for young families, said Ms. Shildkret, who sold a previous home for Mr. Lynn.

Houses in another small subdivision -- Royal Ranch, an out-of-the way cluster near the parkway and North Shore Towers -- are among the more expensive, brokers say. That is partly because of their large, secluded lots.

Residents' one big complaint, Mr. Friedrich said, is infrastructure upkeep; many curbs date to 1946. Their crumbling has caused flooding that local government has been slow to address.

That said, however, Glen Oaks Village has benefited from the city's Million Trees campaign: about 300 have been planted in the complex, he said.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: The ''Living In'' article last Sunday about Glen Oaks, Queens, misidentified the property that Julia Shildkret, a local broker, handled for Brian Lynn, a Glen Oaks resident. She and her firm sold a previous home for Mr. Lynn, not his current apartment in Parkwood Estates.